Migration Help
23rd March 2010, 03:06 PM
AN OVERSEAS doctor at the Hackham Medical Centre has had to leave his family in the Philippines for almost two years because the Immigration Department won’t grant his autistic son a visa.
Dr Edwin Lapidario has spent 18 months and thousands of dollars in lawyers fees trying to have his wife and two sons join him in Australia.
His wife Cherryl and son Savion Nash, 2, were granted dependent visas in February 2009 but eldest son Sean Craig, 5, was refused because he has autism.
“I just want them to be here,” Dr Lapidario told the Southern Times Messenger last week.
“My son needs me and my wife has no medical experience and it is really hard for her to cope.
“Whenever I talk with my wife over the internet, we cry every night.”
Dr Lapidario moved to the southern suburbs in June 2008 to further his career. He said Sean did not show signs of autism before he left for Australia, and it was only detected when tests were undertaken as part of the visa process.
After Sean’s initial visa application was refused, Dr Lapidario lodged an application for a long-term medical visa to have his son assessed in Australia but it was rejected this month.
Dr Lapidario flew home to the Philippines on Monday (March 22), where he will lodge an application for a short term medical visa. If this fails, he may be forced to return to the Philippines.
“I’ve got no choice. What is work if I have good pay here or good job here without my family?” he said.
“My family is the first one for me.”
Hackham Medical Centre manager Pam Thorpe said one of the clinic’s patients, Rob Pattison, had started a petition in a bid to have Sean granted a visa.
“It’s just so frustrating what he has to go through,” she said. “To try and get doctors is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.”
Latest figures from General Practice Network South (GPNS) show Hackham, Hackham West and Huntfield Heights have has just one GP for every 3846 residents. An acceptable ratio is one to every 1408 residents.
GPNS chief executive Dr Helena Williams said it was critical governments supported international doctors and their families who were working in areas where there were GP shortages.
“It can be very difficult for practices to recruit GPs to work in some areas, both rural and metropolitan, so once they have been recruited we must invest in strategies to support them and their families to stay within that community,” she said.
An Immigration Department spokesman said while the department was “sympathetic” to Dr Lapidario’s situation, his son Sean “was assessed by a medical officer of the Commonwealth (MOC) as not meeting the health requirement on health and community cost grounds”.
“The Department is required by law to abide by the findings of the MOC.”
“It is long-standing Government policy that high cost medical conditions are a consideration in visa decisions,” he said.
The spokesman said Australia’s healthcare resources were “finite” and the Government had a responsibility to “help contain public expenditure and ensure Australian residents have access to health and community services”. He said Dr Lapidario could apply for another temporary visa for his family involving a shorter stay or a different visa in which he would agree to cover the medical costs of his son.
Kingston MHR Amanda Rishworth (Labor) said her office had advised Dr Lapidario to apply for a short term medical visa and was writing a letter to the Immigration Department outlining his son’s case.
Autism SA manager community relations Karl Zander said every person with an autism spectrum disorder was affected differently and some may have associated health issues.
“The diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is not medical as it is a development disability and the diagnosis is based in three main areas, in deficits in communication, socialisation and repetitive and restrictive interests and behaviours.”
Dr Lapidario’s plight echoes the 2008 case of German-born Dr Bernhard Moeller who was refused permanent residency to settle in Horsham, Victoria because his son had Down Syndrome. Dr Moeller and his family were eventually granted permanent residency.
SOURCE (http://southern-times-messenger.whereilive.com.au/news/story/gp-s-battle-for-autistic-son/)
MH
Dr Edwin Lapidario has spent 18 months and thousands of dollars in lawyers fees trying to have his wife and two sons join him in Australia.
His wife Cherryl and son Savion Nash, 2, were granted dependent visas in February 2009 but eldest son Sean Craig, 5, was refused because he has autism.
“I just want them to be here,” Dr Lapidario told the Southern Times Messenger last week.
“My son needs me and my wife has no medical experience and it is really hard for her to cope.
“Whenever I talk with my wife over the internet, we cry every night.”
Dr Lapidario moved to the southern suburbs in June 2008 to further his career. He said Sean did not show signs of autism before he left for Australia, and it was only detected when tests were undertaken as part of the visa process.
After Sean’s initial visa application was refused, Dr Lapidario lodged an application for a long-term medical visa to have his son assessed in Australia but it was rejected this month.
Dr Lapidario flew home to the Philippines on Monday (March 22), where he will lodge an application for a short term medical visa. If this fails, he may be forced to return to the Philippines.
“I’ve got no choice. What is work if I have good pay here or good job here without my family?” he said.
“My family is the first one for me.”
Hackham Medical Centre manager Pam Thorpe said one of the clinic’s patients, Rob Pattison, had started a petition in a bid to have Sean granted a visa.
“It’s just so frustrating what he has to go through,” she said. “To try and get doctors is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.”
Latest figures from General Practice Network South (GPNS) show Hackham, Hackham West and Huntfield Heights have has just one GP for every 3846 residents. An acceptable ratio is one to every 1408 residents.
GPNS chief executive Dr Helena Williams said it was critical governments supported international doctors and their families who were working in areas where there were GP shortages.
“It can be very difficult for practices to recruit GPs to work in some areas, both rural and metropolitan, so once they have been recruited we must invest in strategies to support them and their families to stay within that community,” she said.
An Immigration Department spokesman said while the department was “sympathetic” to Dr Lapidario’s situation, his son Sean “was assessed by a medical officer of the Commonwealth (MOC) as not meeting the health requirement on health and community cost grounds”.
“The Department is required by law to abide by the findings of the MOC.”
“It is long-standing Government policy that high cost medical conditions are a consideration in visa decisions,” he said.
The spokesman said Australia’s healthcare resources were “finite” and the Government had a responsibility to “help contain public expenditure and ensure Australian residents have access to health and community services”. He said Dr Lapidario could apply for another temporary visa for his family involving a shorter stay or a different visa in which he would agree to cover the medical costs of his son.
Kingston MHR Amanda Rishworth (Labor) said her office had advised Dr Lapidario to apply for a short term medical visa and was writing a letter to the Immigration Department outlining his son’s case.
Autism SA manager community relations Karl Zander said every person with an autism spectrum disorder was affected differently and some may have associated health issues.
“The diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is not medical as it is a development disability and the diagnosis is based in three main areas, in deficits in communication, socialisation and repetitive and restrictive interests and behaviours.”
Dr Lapidario’s plight echoes the 2008 case of German-born Dr Bernhard Moeller who was refused permanent residency to settle in Horsham, Victoria because his son had Down Syndrome. Dr Moeller and his family were eventually granted permanent residency.
SOURCE (http://southern-times-messenger.whereilive.com.au/news/story/gp-s-battle-for-autistic-son/)
MH